Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Angela Lansbury | ... | Miss Price | |
David Tomlinson | ... | Emelius | |
Roddy McDowall | ... | Mr. Jelk | |
Sam Jaffe | ... | Bookman | |
John Ericson | ... | Col. Heller | |
Bruce Forsyth | ... | Swinburne | |
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Cindy O'Callaghan | ... | Carrie |
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Roy Snart | ... | Paul |
Ian Weighill | ... | Charlie | |
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Tessie O'Shea | ... | Mrs. Hobday |
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Arthur Gould-Porter | ... | Capt. Greer (as Arthur E. Gould-Porter) |
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Ben Wrigley | ... | Portobello Rd. Workman |
Reginald Owen | ... | Gen. Teagler | |
Cyril Delevanti | ... | Elderly Farmer | |
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Rick Traeger | ... | German Sergeant |
During World War II in England, Charlie (Ian Weighill), Carrie (Cindy O'Callaghan), and Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart) are sent to live with Miss Eglantine Price (Dame Angela Lansbury), who, as it turns out, is an apprentice witch. Charlie blackmails Miss Price that if he is to keep her practices a secret, she must give him something, so she takes a bedknob from her late father's bed and places the "famous magic travelling spell" on it, and only Paul can activate it. Their first journey is to a street in London, where they meet Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson), former headmaster of Miss Price's witchcraft training correspondence school. Miss Price tells him of a plan to find the magic words for a spell known as "Substitutiary Locomotion", which brings inanimate objects to life. This spell will be her work for the war effort. Written by Matthew Anscher <anscher@radonc.duke.edu>
I loved this masterpiece and quite frankly I, too found Mary Poppins (although I love Julie Andrews and Dick VanDyke) to be silly and sacrine-sweet. Angela Lansbury plays her character to perfection and I don't know why people think of this film as distorted. It was magical and it was lots of fun to watch. Every scene held a certain charm as you got to know the characters better. You truly see how this little thrown together family learn to bond with each other, despite their age and differences. I thought the characters were well developed, especially Charles who was at "The Age of not Believing". Mary Poppins may be more popular and cherished by others but this little gem will be the one that I will always love and cherish.